Improvement in automatic boiler-feeders



ROBERT BERRYMA N & R. N. PRATT.

Improvement in Automatic Boiler-Feeders.

No 114 255 Patented May 2,1871.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

ROBERT BERRYMAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, AND RUFUS N. PRATT,

OF PHILADELPHIA; PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEM ENT IN 'AUTOMATIC BOlLER-FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 114,255, dated May 2,1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RoBERT BERE-YMAN, of Hartford, of the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, and RUFUS NUTTING PRATT, ofPhiladelphia, of the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Apparatus for Automatically Feeding a Steam- Boiler with Water;and we do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanyin g drawings, ofwhich-- Figure 1 denotes a front elevation of the apparatus as appliedto a boiler. Fig.2 is a vertical and longitudinal section of thewatersnpply vessel or tank, as it is sometimes termed.

In the drawings, A denotes the boiler, having erected on it a frame, B,to support the pivots ot' a lever, C, from whose shorter arm issuspended a hollow globev or vessel, D. Opening into the said globe Band its stem at are two flexible pipes, b c, which respectively leaddown into the boiler, the upper pipe terminatin g therein at the levelat which it may be desirable for the water to stand in the boiler, theother pipe extending somewhat below such level. On the longer arm of thelever is an adjustable counterbalance or weight, W.

E is a hollow drum or vessel, usually termed the tank. It is providedwith a pipe, (1, which leads out of the top of the boiler and into thatof such vessel E, such pipe being furnished with a steam-cock, F, avertical section of which is shown in Fig. 3. The plug 6 of this cock ismoved in one direction by a spring, f, and in the other by an angularlever, arranged as shown. The longer arm of the said angular lever isconnected with that of the lever C by a connection-rod, g, pivoted toboth levers.

On the outside of each head of the vessel E is a chamber, h, the twochambers being connected by a series of pipes,iit',leading through thevessel E from one chamber h to the other. It is intendedthat the wasteor exhaust steam from the engine shall be passed into one chamber, andfrom thence be caused to pass through the stack of pipes to and throughthe other chamber, the object being to heat the water that may be in thevessel E by means of the heat absorbed by the stack of pipes from theexhaust-steam. By so exhausting such water before it may be receivedinto the boiler an advantage will be gained, as can readily be seen.

level above the stack of pipes leading through such vessel, extends downand opens into the boiler at or near its bottom. Within the pipe 70 is acheck-valve, l, to open downward. There is also a blow-cock, m, leadingout of the top and another such cook, a, leading out of thebottomoft-hevesselE. Furthermore,'arranged above the said vessel E isanother hollow vessel or globe, G, from whose lower part a pipe orconduit, H, leads to and opens into the upper part of the vessel E.Within the pipe H is a cock, I, like the cock F hereinbefore, described,the longer arm. of the angular lever o of the stem p of the said valvebeing conjoined with the longer arm of the lever C by a connectionrod K,composed of two screws, r r, united by a nut, s.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the cock I, the lever o, the screws 4'r, the nut s, and the globe G. A pipe, leading from a water supplycistern, opens into the top of the globe G, there being in such pipe t acheck-valve,u, a section of the pipe check-valve and globe being shownin Fig. 5,

There is applied to the top of the globe D a blow-cock, w, for effectingthe discharge of air from such globe and the pipes leading into it.

In the operation of the above-described apparatus gravity is broughtinto action upon the counterpoised h'ollow globe D, whose weight,together with that of its contents, which may be water and steam orsteam alone, is employed to effect oscillation or movement of the leverC. If air contained in the pipes b c and the globe D he suffered toescape through the blowcock w, and the boiler be charged with water toits proper level,it will be evident that when steam is made in theboiler water will be forced by the pressure thereof into the suspendedglobe.

D until it will be filled thereby. The weight of the water will causethe globe to descend and move the lever, whereby the cock F will beclosed by its spring, so as to cut off communication between thesteam-space of the boiler and that of the vessel or tank E. At the sametime the cock I will be opened. Now,

A pipe, 70, leading out of the vessel E at a it we suppose the water tofall to a level below that of the lower end of the upper ot' the twopipes 12 c it will be evident that steam will pass up such pipe into thehollow globe D and will displace the water therein, which will, bygravity, run through the other pipe into the boiler. The globe D onbeing relieved of waboiler. On the water in the boiler rising to theproper level, or while rising to such, the steam in the globe D andpipes b 0 will be condensed,

and water from the boiler will take its place, thereby causing the globeto descend, the cock I to be opened, and the cock F to be closed. 011the cock I being opened water from the condenser or auxiliary globe Gwill flow down the pipe H into the tank or vessel E, and will condensethe steam'therein, thus creatinga vacuum in the steam-space of suchvessel, whereby wa ter will be drawn from the globe and its inletpipeuntil the tank may be filled.

The object of the condenser or vessel G and its cock I, combined withthe tank and its induction-pipe, isto effect sudden condensation of thesteam in the tank or vessel E and supply the latter with water; also toenable the water in the vessel E to be heated by the exhaust-steam, allof which could not be performed with the dispatch required without thesaid condenser. The condenser renders the water-supplyapparatus ot'theboiler very sensitive in action, and is productive of other importantand useful results.

The purpose of. arranging the feed-pipe so as to open out of the vesselor tank E at a level above the stack of pipes of such tank or vessel E,is not only to keep the stack constantly covered with water, and therebyprevent sudden contractions and expansions of the stack,

. tendingto rupture or otherwiseinjure the pipes thereof or theirjoints, but also'to prevent the sediment which may fall in the water inthe tank from being forced into the boiler. Such sediment may bedischarged through the blowcock of the bottom of the vessel E.

That portion of the tank E which is above the tubestack should be solarge that the boiler will always be properly supplied before the waterin the tank descends low enough to uncover any of the tubes. The openingof the feed-pipe 7:: out of the tank may be located high enough to leavea space below in the bottom of the tank for sediment, but must be so lowthat it will never be uncovered by the descent of water while the boilermay be in operation.-

The check-valve l in the feed-pipe 7c is to prevent the pressure ofsteam in the boiler from forcing the water of the tank up into thecondenser, and the check-valve u of the pipe tis to prevent Water frombeing blown out of the condenser through its supply-pipe. For theapparatus to operate to good advantage the bore of the pipe d should beabout one-third larger in diameter than that of the pipe 70.Furthermore, it is better to have the supplypipe t enter or open intothe condenser G at or near its bottom rather than at or near its top, asshown in the drawings. Furthermore, instead ofslottin g, we prefer tofork at their outer ends the stems of the valves of the two cocks I andF, their operative bent levers having their shorter arms extended intothe openings of the forks, the object being to have one valve surelyclosed while the other is open.

The pipe H may be extended into the tank E, and there be provided with anose or foraminousend to discharge the water in line streams or jets invarious directions.

We claim l. The combination of the condenser Grand the cooks I'withweighted lever G and globe D, combined with the boiler by pipes 11 c, as

described, and with the tank or vessel E, its water induction andeduction conduits b H k and the pipe d and its cock F all being appliedtogether and with the boiler, substantially in manner and to operate asdescribed. 2. In combination therewith, means of heating the tank E bythe exhaust-steam, such means, as represented and described, consistingof the two chambers h h and the stack of pipes i. r t

3. The combination and arrangement of the chambers h h and the stack ofpipes iwith the vessel E.

4. The combination of check-valves u 1, arranged in the pipes t and k,with the condenser G, the tank E, the vessel D, and lever 0, allarranged and combined togetherin manner substantially as described, andwith or for use with a boiler, asset forth.

ROBERT BERRYMAN. RUFUS N UTTING PRATT.

